Why you should always put the toilet seat cover down before flushing

Is leaving the toilet seat cover up or down an ongoing debate in your home? For those who leave the toilet seat up, you may want to rethink this practice, because toilet plume is not your friend. Or your toothbrush’s for that matter.

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What is ‘toilet plume’? Every time you flush the toilet with the toilet seat cover up, a fine spray of tiny water droplets go flying through the air, causing surface contamination around the toilet and bathroom. It is these aerosolized particles, which are known as ‘toilet plume’. Additionally, a study that dates back to the 1950’s by a gentleman named Mr Jessen revealed, that microbes were still being captured from the air 8 minutes after flushing the toilet. Another study conducted by New York University revealed that aerosol plumes are able to reach heights of 4.5 metres.

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So what does this all mean? It means that not only are these tiny droplets contaminating the floor and wall around the toilet, but also items in the vicinity of your toilet, such as your toothbrush. Yuck, right?